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The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. For over three generations, the Academy has connected millions of people to great poetry through programs such as National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world; Poets.org, the Academy’s popular website; American Poets, a biannual literary journal; and an annual series of poetry readings and special events. Since its founding, the Academy has awarded more money to poets than any other organization.

The Vintage Book of African American Poetry

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Spanning over two hundred years, Michael Harper's and Anthony Walton's anthology The Vintage Book of African American Poetry produces a vast narration of struggle, love, race, and redemption through the work of fifty poets. The poems not only voice a vision of black identity, but also depict a distinctly American experience. As the editors explain in their introduction:

From the jazz age of the 1920s to the beat 1950s, the politically torn 1960s and '70s, and the turbulent youth culture of today, the American mainstream has turned to black cultural forms to voice its heartache and discontent as well as its hopes and ambitions. The African American poetic tradition has borne witness to that space just out of sight that is the web of personal, social, and biological realities that in the end circumscribes all.

The anthology is arranged chronologically, beginning with classic verse of the slave-born poets Jupitor Hammon and Phillis Wheatley, and concluding with the dramatic monologues of Elizabeth Alexander and poems by Reginald Shepherd. Each poet is introduced with a concise biographical and literary commentary, which provides useful context and understanding.

There are sobering poems about slavery and daily life, fierce political statements, and quiet musings about spirituality and love. Testifying to the powerful bond these writers feel toward their historical and literary ancestry, an extraordinary number of the poems discuss African American history, particularly paying tribute to other African American poets.

For additional resources on African American poets, consult In Search of Color Everywhere, edited by E. Ethelbert Miller, illustrated by Terrance Cummings, and published by Stewart, Tabori, & Chang in 1996.